


Senses

by Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22383730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts/pseuds/Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts
Summary: She wakes up.Two versions.





	Senses

A body in a tub, that’s all she was before she awoke. She had no meaning, no purpose, and no substance beyond that of flesh and bone. A long stretch of eternity and stillness existed until she became something more. The power that one person has, that every person has to transform nothing into something, a moment of silence and lifelessness into movement. Fierce breath shakes and shivers, bouncing through the swirls in the air. She lives, but in the stillness, does not exist. What they have done to her even they do not know what will come of it. Her heart will beat, light will fill her eyes, and her voice will be as crisp and lilting as ever, but what she was won ’ t ever be again. They cannot have both her stillness and her movement through their pains. What they have made is neither, and broken. 

Her eyes flipped open, then just as quickly scrunched closed against the...light. She smelled moisture and felt liquid surrounding her. She was laying on a smooth hard surface. She felt it along her sides, so she knew that it cradled her in some way. She could smell flowers, too, and the underlying sting of something chemical. Her...knees were bare, but droplets of liquid lay on them, growing cold. She shivered. She heard the liquid splash against the walls of her basin. The echo told her that the room was big, larger than just her little cold space. She peeked her eyes open carefully. The room was...white. The walls were made of big...tiles. The room was empty except for the...bathtub and a...drain in the floor. It was hard thinking of the...words to things.  They took time to come, but she didn’t know where they came from. She didn’t know where she was. In fact, she didn’t know there existed a world beyond the...door to her left. All she knew was white, tile, and...water, that’s what it was called. Water, clean and clear. H2O with minerals and dust and salt to make it impure. She didn’t know how she knew these things. There was only the room, just the room. And her. Birthed from water, porcelain, and white. She wanted more, but didn’t know what else there was to want. Her...hands grasped at the water. Her...feet pushed. She tried to stand, but fell hard. There was a burst of pain at the back of her head. Still no knowledge, no self, but now the blood was actually there. She waited for the dizziness to settle, then tried again. Balance, her mind told her. She gripped hard at the side of the tub and centered her feet under her. She stood, carefully, feeling the weight of the water and gravity and her own mass pull her down. The water splashed out of the tub and gurgled down the drain. The thought pushed in that it sounded like a person choking. She didn’t understand how she knew that. Her mind was empty, just sensory, just reactions and effects. As she stepped from the tub, she could see her blurry, shadowed reflection in the water on the white tile floor. Her soft voice startled her as she said,  “Who am I?”

* * *

Her eyes flipped open, then just as quickly scrunched closed against the...light. She smelled moisture. She was laying on a smooth plastic surface. She could smell flowers, too, and the underlying sting of something chemical. Her...knees were bare, but droplets of liquid lay on them, growing cold. She shivered. The echo told her that the room was big, larger than just her little cold space. She peeked her eyes open carefully. 

The room was...white. The walls were made of big...tiles. The room was empty except for the...shreds of plastic under her and a...drain in the floor. It was hard thinking of the...words to things.  They took time to come, but she didn ’ t know where they came from. She  didn ’ t know where she was. In fact, she didn ’ t know there existed a world beyond the...door to her left. All she knew was white, tile, and...water, that ’ s what it was called. Water, clean and clear. H2O with minerals and dust and salt to make it impure. She didn ’ t know how she knew these things. There was only the room, just the room. And her. Birthed from water and white. She wanted more, but didn ’ t know what else there was to want. Her...hands grasped at the water and the plastic sheet below her . Her...feet pushed. She tried to stand, but fell hard. There was a burst of pain at the back of her head. Still no knowledge, no self, but now the blood was actually there. She waited for the dizziness to settle, then tried again. 

Balance, her mind told her. The plastic covered in water will be slippery. She curled her feet under her. She stood, carefully. Muscles stretched for what felt like the first time. Slowly her muscles warmed from use, and moved easily. She realized that the water had been contained in the plastic like a giant balloon. She pulled the plastic from the ground, and threw it into the corner. The water splashed and gurgled down the drain. The thought pushed in that it sounded like a person choking. She didn’t understand how she knew that. Her mind was empty, just sensory, just reactions and effects. She could see her blurry, shadowed reflection in the water on the white tile floor. 

Her tail swayed lazily over the right shoulder of her still figure. The tuft of hair at he end of the thin length twitched back and forth like that of a hunting lioness, except her tail was blue. The entire length was striped a deep sapphire and pale peach shin tone. Those same stripes continued down two legs, up her back, and down two arms. They curled in like fingers, leaving her stomach and  breasts clear. The stripes were  thinner where they circled her neck and reached  out from her out from her hair to surround her face. The stripes graduated to a paler sky blue at the insides of her arms and legs. She stood mesmerized by her black eyes. As she tiled her head, her white hair fell forward to cover half her face. Blinking at the sudden strands in her eyes, she flinched. Her feet slipped on the cold, slick floor, one forward, one back. She crashed to her knee, the other leg sprawled out in front. Her tail slashed through the air, trying to keep her balanced. Her voice rang out in a croaked yelp. Shocked at the sound, she stilled again, listening to the echo fade into the tiled walls and ceiling. 

In front of her to the right, a hiss came from the wall. She crawled forward to the corner of the room. Her mind raced. The words came easier now. Feeling along the tiles, the cold grout left new damp on her fingertips, replacing what had evaporated. Though droplets still clung to the tiles, she was almost completely dry.  Even her hair was only slightly damp.  Though the air was chilly, her skin was warm and smooth on her belly and neck, but her hands, knees, and feet had thicker, rougher, colder skin. Her fingers ended in petite claws. She extended the claws slowly, then scratched at the grout. The chalky, dry scent burst into the air. Below that a sweet scent hung delicately. It seemed to be coming from her skin. She smelled like vanilla and spice. 

A harsh hiss came from the wall again. She jerked away and waited. The hiss was followed with a thud which grew to a crackling. A low pressure built in her chest, traveling  to her throat, becoming a growl. Her lips pulled away from her teeth. In her reflection on the wall, her teeth were long and sharp. The thud repeated. She reached out a hand. The wall shook under her fingertips. She bounded away, and backed into the opposite corner. The wall fell into pieces, each a square of concrete topped by its own tile, scattering across the floor. A large creature filled the hole in the wall. He, for the creature smelled like salt and musk, definitely male, was taller than her by two feet at least. He was covered in tarnished gold, grey, and pale green diamond scales like a snake. His head was covered in short, fuzzy black hair. The hair continued down his spine all the way to the tip of his thick, lizard-like tail. 

He scanned the room. His tail swayed across the floor, bumping pieces of concrete into skittering away. His tail movements spread his scent further into the room, surrounding her. In her mind, she was surrounded by a wet, hot jungle. Bursting with trees and vines pressing close, the overwhelming smell of lime and salt made her stomach clench and tingles run down her spine. She gasped only to inhale again quickly. Below the dust, below the lime and salt was cinnamon and pepper. A spiciness that matched her own. She stood. 

“ What are you? ” he hissed, showing his teeth. He made no move toward her, even taking a step back as if afraid. 

“ What are you? ” she said. The words were clear in her head, strong, almost yelling at her to speak them. His posture curled in, but he stepped forward. 

“ I woke up in water. I don ’ t know who I am, ” he said, looking down at her,  “ I don ’ t remember being this strong. ”

“ Or having a tail? Me neither. I understand. I know the words, but I don ’ t know how I know them. I know that you smell like me, under the wet and lime. ”


End file.
